We're having a pin party and you're invited! Visit our Pinterest page to enter our Sweepstakes for a chance to win one of three $150 shopping sprees!

All you have to do is follow us on Pinterest, create your own "Modern Hue" board, tag your pins with #EuroStyleLighting and #ModernHue and then provide us with a link to your board. You have until July 8th to complete your board and provide us with your link. It's that simple... and that fun!

Wall & Deco introduces an incredible new collection of of outdoor wallpaper called OUT-Outdoor Unconventional Texture. The visual solutions for exterior decoration will blow your mind. Graffiti and street art have greatly influenced the design culture in the last few years and now Wall & Deco has taken this concept to the next level and combined it with innovative technology to create something completely unexpected.

There are so many expressive possibilities which make these bold and graphic outdoor wallpapers an architects dream! Adding color and graphic wall murals into urban settings makes for happy places and it actually brings inspiration to communities. Goodbye outdoor tile, hello outdoor wallpaper! Just take a look at some of the amazing exterior applications.

BauHaus: This colorful graphic pattern creates such a bold contrast with the natural environment. Imagine how this could light up at night with the use of modern up lighting.

Kefia: The Houndstooth pattern adds sophistication to this modern architecture. Pair it with colorful outdoor chairs and let the fun begin!

Plan Check Kitchen + Bar is a quaint little restaurant located in West LA's Little Osaka. Many of you might be familiar with this area for the sushi, but maybe you've frequented the Los Angeles Department of Building and Safety on a regular basis to have your plans reviewed for permitting. The concept behind this restaurant design embodies the creative lifestyle of architects, designers, and developers that flock here on a regular basis.

The minimal industrial warehouse vibe of this gastropub has the laid back feeling of a corner general store or corner bar in any small town.The outside patio is very welcoming with its warm, minimal lighting aesthetic. Modern outdoor lighting paired with industrial awnings makes for a perfect L.A. evening hang out.

The long communal tables are centrally located with an open bar on the left and sculptural wood booths to the right. The natural wood and metal tables do a great job of warming up the space. Poured concrete floors and industrial modern lighting fixtures consistently create a warehouse style interior.

These gunmetal barstools paired with this bronze wall sconce are perfect for giving your space that feeling of an industrial warehouse.

Even the menus look like a set of plans! How great is that? But really, what's so great about this place is the menu.

Umami Burger's, Chef Ernesto Uchimura, has created a menu of comfort food topped with things like bacon candy and ketchup leather and stuffed with things like bone marrow and swiss cheese fondue. You can't go wrong with anything on this menu.

Now you've got something to look forward to next time you're visiting the Department of Building and Safety!

My experience at the 2012 Dwell on Design show at the Los Angeles Convention Center last weekend can be best summed up by a well-worn cliche: what a difference a year makes. Whereas last year's Dwell on Design Show seemed retrenched under the specter of the euro zone crisis (and completely out of step with its tagline "Go Big. Find Design."), the 2012 incarnation was 100% about thinking big.

Summarizing this year's event, Dwell Media President Michela O’Connor Abrams said, “Without exploration, there would be no innovation. This year at Dwell on Design, we’re exploring beyond the boundaries of expectation to get a first look at the people, products, and ideas that will redefine the very notion of modern.”

So what four things did I discover at Dwell on Design 2012?

1. Modernism is Alive and Well

If the exhibiting non-profits at the show are any indication, classic Modernism is very much the guiding light of Dwell.

I was delighted to discover Modcom, the Modern Committee of the Los Angeles Conservancy. Through research, outreach, and action, this group works to preserve L.A.'s post-war architectural treasures.

Also in attendance were representatives of Palm Springs Modernism Week, the annual symposium of lectures, tours and exhibitions dedicated to Modernism's rich legacy in the Palm Springs area.

2. Outdoor Is In

The outdoor "deck" of the show was larger this year. Plants, prefabs, pods, pots and more graced every corner of the space.

The show boasted two retrofitted Airstream campers, further underscoring Modernism's firm hold on the Dwell aesthetic.

Even the very notion of "outdoor" was expanded. As part of the show's onstage series, Artillery magazine's review editor Carrie Paterson presented "The Road Less Traveled: How Miniature Forests Will Humanize Long-Term Space Missions," in which she detailed the history of agriculture in space exploration, and offered the bonzai tree as a possible human companion in long-term human missions to space.

3. Big Design Fits in Small Spaces

As expected, the latest in modular home design was on display at the event. All three participating designers utilized diminutive floorplans to the fullest, and I caught more than one attendee peering into cabinets, checking under beds, and above appliances in an attempt to visualize how they might downsize their lives into a small, elegant space.

The ecofabulous LivingHome was the event darling - it seemed like there was someone pouring juice, wine or champagne at almost every hour outside the space. At their $172 per square foot claim, the LivingHome is budget-fabulous.

Connect Homes and Sustain Design didn't rival the ecofabulous LivingHome fanfare, but their designs equally inspired. Sustain Design's caliMini prefab packs a high aesthetic into the footprint of a flatbed truck:

All in all, these homes felt a bit, well, mobile. I found it hard to resist the urge to knock on the walls to see how they held up, but seen in a broader context, these structures are quite a feat. Given only a few days of set up time, each of these designers erected and staged a livable home. Who am I to complain?

4. We Live in a Material World

My favorite part of the show was that which was perhaps least practical in the most direct sense: a number of sculptural installations were on view that explored the limits of material. As Cori mentioned in her recap of the show earlier this week, Oyler Wu's Screenplay installation utilized 45,000 feet of rope to create a textured wall.

Student Bruce Guan from the Interior Architecture Department at Woodbury University constructed a fabulous curtain from paper airplanes (pictured below and in detail at the top of this post).

Los Angeles based Timeline Wood showcased a line of distressed wood planks. These FSC certified, low VOC treated planks had the appearance of reclaimed wood. The owners, Shelby Keyser and Matt Stroud, perfected the "aging" techniques during stints as furniture restorers and artists.

As evidenced by the event as a whole, design's role in the building of a better future is more important than ever. Nowhere was this more obvious than at the motor court in front of the Convention Center, where Green Car Journal hosted a test drive program showcasing the latest in electric, hybrid and clean diesel cars. A year ago, the electric vehicles on display were concept cars. This time around however, I was able to test drive two production cars: the Coda and Ford Focus (available starting January 2013).

When it was time to head home however, I did the green cars one better: I jumped on my bicycle and rode home. Sure, nobody walks in L.A...but they do ride.

Over the weekend, I attended Dwell on Design at the L.A. Convention Center. It's an annual event organized by Dwell Magazine and it includes a large showroom with hundreds of artists, vendors, manufacturers, etc. There are also panels discussing topics like sustainable design, innovations in product design and social media, etc. It was pretty awesome and inspiring for anyone who craves modern design. By far, my favorite moment was meeting the architect who designed the home featured on the July/August cover of Dwell (check it out, I got an autograph too).

Next up, I was awe-struck by the installation that greets you as you enter the main showroom (below). The artistic structure is constructed out of silver polypropylene rope looping around a steel frame. If you're interested, you can read about the process and see how this Oyler Wu Installation was created.

Jenny Wu describes the project, "Our interest in line-work is three-dimensional and spatial. This begs the question: How does a single line become spatial? Well, the simple answer is—it doesn't. A line only becomes three-dimensional when it becomes part of an aggregation of multiple lines that are not co-planar."

There were several architecture booths where I discovered my dream home. Huf Haus is a German based engineering and design firm that focuses on creating energy efficient, luxury homes. There was no way I wasn't going to snag one of their brochures and peruse their website after the show. This A-frame home with windows all the way to the top is magnificent!

I absolutely loved the outdoor living displays, which included pre-fab homes, campers, outdoor furniture, etc. In the photo below you can see the clear bubble pods that I want for sitting outside in the middle of a rain storm... now, doesn't that sound incredible?!

In addition to the outdoor living area, there were also several vendors throughout the showroom featuring plant related products. Potted had some truly creative pieces (shown below) that I want to put in my own home. With a shop located in the Los Feliz/Atwater area of Los Angeles, Potted provides an eclectic environment filled with an array of styles, from kitsch to cottage and vintage to modern. I just love this circular piece, which also comes in white!

Urbio was another a booth I spent a little time at. They have these really cool magnetic, modular pieces (shown below) that you can use for just about anything. But no doubt they look best with plants, especially succulents. They're great for using vertical wall space!

If you missed Dwell on Design this year, don't worry we have more recaps throughout the week, so stay tuned...